Force lasting machine



Dec. 14, 1954 p w, SEM-'LEBEN 2,696,623

FORCE LASTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y@ 3 Z8 7002 j g B in' Afzar Dec. 14, 1954 P. w. SENFLEBEN 2,696,623

FORCE LASTING MACHINE Filed Ag. 24, 1951 3 SheetS-Shee'l'l 2 68 zz/nar Pau] h/Sen/Zeberz Dec- 14, 1.954 P. w. sENFLl-:BEN 2,696,623

FORCE LASTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 zl/n far 20 Hmz wen Heben l 139 m37 ig 8 @Uffa/50 80 United States Patent O FORCE LAsTlNG MACHINE Paul W. Senlieben, Malden, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey This invention relates to force lasting machines and is herein disclosed as embodied in a machine for slip lasting shoes upon collapsible lasts of the type illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent No. 2,404,805, granted July 30, 1946, upon the application of Victor J. Levaggi, Jr. Such lasts are shortened when collapsed and are extended to their normal length within the shoe by pressure exerted against the bottom of the forepart of the shoe on the last. The lengthening of the last, with a resultant stretching and shaping of the shoe, is effected by a camming action between the two parts of the last when the last is straightened and it calls for the exercise of considerable pressure. Furthermore, the forepart of the shoe must first be urged as far upon the last as practicable. The performance of these perations manually requires considerable strength and is fatiguing to the operator.

lt is an object of the present invention to provide a machine whereby the operations above referred to can be performed expeditiously and with the exercise of but little effort on the part of the operator. In accordance with a feature of the invention, the illustrated machine is provided with a shoe-engaging means mounted for movement about two axes in such a manner that when it is moved about one axis it acts frictionally upon the shoe to force the forepart of the shoe further upon the last and when it is moved about the other axis it exerts a thrusting action against the shoe bottom to straighten the last.

These and other features of the invention, including details of construction and the arrangement of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of an illustrative machine showing the shoe-engaging member about to urge the forepart of a shoe further upon a collapsed last;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l showing the position of the various parts of the machine at an intermediate stage of the last straightening operation;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l showing the various parts of the machine at the completion of the operation;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of a shoe in relation to the shoe-engaging members;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the shoe-engaging members and their supports;

6 is a sectional view taken on the line VI--VI of ig.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line VII- VII of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a detail plan view showing a latching mechamsm.

The illustrated machine (Fig. 1) is provided with an upstanding last pin 10 for supporting a last L and with a pair of members 12 and 14 (Figs. 1 and 5) engageable with opposite sides of a shoe S and with the shoe bottom. The last L is of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent 2,404,805 above mentioned and the shoe S is of the slip lasted type having an upper U and an unturned platform cover C, the shoe being loosely mounted upon the collapsed last. 'I'he last pin 10 is secured upon a block 16 which is mounted upon a shelf 18 supported by a column 20.

The shoe engaging members 12 and 14 together with their supports are shown, for convenience, in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 with reference to assumed vertical and horizontal center lines and they will now be so described although, as will appear, this assembly of shoe engaging members Patented Dec. 14, 1954 ICC and their supporting structure tilt through a considerable angle in the course of their operation.

The shoe engaging members 12 and 14 (Figs. 4 and 5) are mutually symmetrical L-shaped units, each having a ange 19 which is slightly tilted transversely from the horizontal and a depending flange 21 which is correspondingly tilted from the vertical. The underfaces of the flanges 19, which are cylindrically convex, are lined with leather pads 22 for engagement with the shoe bottom and the inner faces of the anges 21 are lined with leather pads 24 for engagement with the sides of the shoe. The member 12 is supported by a shoulder screw 26 threaded into the flange 19 and rotatable in a slide 28, the upper face of the flange 19 engaging a beveled underface of the slide. The shoe engaging member 14 is similarly supported by a shoulder screw 30 rotatable in a slide 32. The slides 28 and 32 are slidable upon a common support in the form of a horizontal rod 34 (see also Fig. 6) which is secured by a setscrew 36 in a block 38, and they are retained upon the rod by collars 40 and 42 secured on the ends of the rod. The block 38 is supported by a vertical shoulder screw 44 threaded into the block and rotatably supported by a horizontal plate 46, this plate having a rearward extension 48 into which is threaded a horizontal shoulder screw 50 rotatable in a boss 52 depending from a carrier arm in the form of a horizontal plate 54. The axes of the shoulder screws 44 and 50 intersect and define a plane which, in Fig. 5, appears as a Vertical center line and, in Figs. 4 and 7, appears as a horizontal center line. Carried by the plate 46 on opposite sides of the horizontal center line (Fig. 7) are a pair of rearwardly extending hollow bosses 56 which serve as housings for compression springs 58 acting through plungers 60 to press forwardly against the slides 28 and 32 and thereby to maintain the shoe engaging members 12 and 14 yieldingly in a neutral position about the axis of the shoulder screw 44. pair of compression springs 62 disposed on opposite sides of the vertical center line (Fig. 5) are interposed between the plates 54 and 46 to maintain the plate 46 yieldingly in a neutral horizontal position about the shoulder screw 50. A horizontally disposed triangular ange 64 (see also Fig. 6) on the block 38 serves as an inner stop against which the shoe engaging members 12 and 14 are normally held by tension springs 66 and 68, the spring 66 being hooked at its ends to the slide 28 and the collar 42 and the spring 68 being hooked at its ends to the slide 32 and the collar 40. The flange 64 has converging sides which normally maintain the members 12 and 14 in suitable angular positions for presentation to the shoe. It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the shoe engaging members 12 and 14 are yieldingly urged against the opposite sides of the shoe S by their respective springs 66 and 68 and that they are freely rotatable about their shoulder screws to conform to the directions of the sides of the shoe at the localities of engagement. Furthermore, the central supporting block 38 can turn about the shoulder screw 44 to equalize the frictional forces exerted by the members 12 and 14 on the sides of the shoe and the plate 46 can yieldingly tilt about its shoulder screw 50 to equalize the downward pressures exerted by the members 12 and 14 on the shoe bottom.

A rearward extension 70 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) of the plate 54 is adjustably secured by clamping screws 72 to a block 74, the screws 72 extending through slots 76 in the extension 70 to allow for fore and aft adjustment. The block 74 is trunnioned for heightwise tilting movement about a transverse axis by coaxial studs 78 (only one of which is shown) upon the upper end of a supporting arm or lever 80 which is fulcrumed upon a transverse pin 82 mounted in a bracket 84 secured to the shelf 18. The lever 80 consists of a ladder-shaped frame having a pair of upwardly and rearwardly inclined members (one obscures the other in the drawings) rigidly connected by cross bars 86. One of the cross bars 86 carries a rubber bumper 88 for engagement with a stop 90 secured upon the shelf 18. y

A treadle 92 connected by a rod 94 to one arm-9-6 of a bell crank fulcrumed on the pin 82 is normally held up by a spring 98, with another arm of the bell crank engaging the shoe bottom. l treadle swings the shoe engaging against a stop 102 on the lever 80 and with the bumper 88 against the stop 90. A link 104 is pivotally connected at its lower end by a pin 106 to the bell crank arm 96 and at its upper end to an arm 108 rigidly Connected t0 the block 74. The pivotal connection between the upper end of the link 104 and the arm 10S comprises a sleeve 110 loose on the rod 104 and having a laterally extending stud 112 which turns in the end of the arm. A pair of collars 114 and 116 secured by set screws to the rod 104 engage the opposite ends of the sleeve 110 to hold the sleeve adjustably against axial movement along the rod, the adjustment being such as to render the distance between the pin 106 and the stud 112 substantially equal to the distance between the fulcrum pin 82 and the trunnions 78. The distance between the pins 106 and S2 is also substantially equal to the distance between the stud 112 and the trunnions 78.

The bell crank arm Q is, normally locked to the lever 80 by a latch 118. (Fig. 8)l housed in a bore 120 formed ina hollow boss 122 on the bell crank arm. A spring 124 urges the latch 118 into position for engagement with a detent 126 on the lever 80, the latch and the detent having abutting engagement faces. Formed on the detent 126 is 'a cam surface 1258 upon which the latch 118 rides up after disengagement tion. Thebell crank 9,6, 100 and the'lever 30 are thus held from relative swinging movement in one direction by the stop 102 and in the other direction by the latch 118 with its cooperating detent 126. The bell crank 96, 100 isunlatched from the lever hy a plunger 130 slidable in a hollow boss 132 on theA lever 80 and having a rounded end 134A which is yieldingly held by a spring 135 against a stationary cam 13,6 adjustably secured upon the plate 18 by cap screws 13 8 extending through slots 140 in the cam. A pin 137 fixed in the boss 132 engages a flat surf ace on the plunger 130 to prevent undesired turning and it is also engageable with a shoulder 139 on the plunger to retain the plunger against the force of the spring 135 before assembly. Adjustably secured in a post 142 mounted on the bracket 8 4 is a stop screw 144 engageable with the lever 80 to limit movement of the lever in a counterclockwise direction as seenin the drawings.

In the operation of the machine depression of the treadle swings the bell crank 96, 100 and the lever 80 as aunit in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Figs. l, 2 and` 3. This movement, which takes place about the fulcrum pin 82 as its center, brings the shoe engaging members 12and14 into engagement with the forepart of the shoe, with the leather pads 24 frictionally engaging the sides of the shoe and the leather pads 22 frictionally Continued depression of the members heelwardly while the springs 66 and 6 8 yieldingly hold the pads 24 in frictional engagementA with the sides of the shoe. The shoe-engaging members 12 and 14, during their heelward movement, turn freely about their supportingl shoulder screws 26 and 30 to enable the pads 24 (to follow the longitudinal curvature of the periphery of the shoe. The path'of the shoe-engaging members, which is arcuate, closely follows Vthe direction of the surface of the shoe bottom, and the slight yielding of. the last toward straightened position under the pressure of the pads 2,2,insres" continuous frictional contact under pressure between the pads and the shoe bottom. Movement of the shoeengaging members' along this path continues until they have been brought to or slightly beyondfthe ball line of the shoe. Just before the lever 80 engages the stop sc rew 144 the cam 136 releases the bell crank 96, 100, from its latching engagement with the lever and permits the arm 108 together with the block 74 to swing about the trunnions 78 as a center. The trunnions 78.now become a furcrum for the carrier arm (i. e.the plate 5,4,and its extension 70) "for the shoe-engaging members. The stop screw 144 prevents further movement of the lever 8l) in a counterclockwise direction andthe shoe-engaging members 12 and 14 as shown in Eig. 2 exert a downward thrust against the shoe bottom tending to straightenl the last.' The forepart of the last, as it cams toewardly in stra1ghtening and thus stretches the shoe, may cause the shoe to exert a frictional drag tending to move the shoeengaging members toewardly; but this eifect'is overcome by the heelward component of force exerted through the inclmed link 104, The shoe-engaging' members, as' they descendto straighten thelast, continueto exert a''relat1ve heelward wiping action on the shoe from the position to enable it to return to latching posishown in Fig. 2 tmhatshonnin-1ia 3.t Qqatnued, sleurtward movement of the treadle results in the complete straightening of the last as shown in Fig. 3 and a resultant stretching of the shoe and shaping it to the last. The operation is now complete and the treadle may be released and the various parts allowed to return to their initial positions. During such"'r"et'urn the shoe-engaging members will first rise out of Contact with the shoe; the bell crank arm will strike the stop 102 and relatch to the lever 80; andthe lever 80. will swing back until the bumper 88 cornes Yup against the stop 90.

Having thus described my invention what I claimy as new andl desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In a force lastingl machine, a support for a last on which a shoe is loosely mounted, a pair of friction pads engageable with the sides of the forepart of the shoe, a common support for said pads, operating meansfor urging the support heelwardly to cause the pads toforce the shoe further on theflast,"'indiyidual pivotal connections between the friction pads and their common support to enable the friction padsto turn freely to follow the longitudinal curvature of the`peripheryof the shoe, and, la pivotal connection between said common support and the operating means for enabling` the common support to swing in"response to the frictional drag of-A the pads and thereby equalize the frictional forces exerted upon opposite sides of thefshoe.

2. In a'fo'rce lasting machine, a support for a last on which a shoe'isloosely mounted, a pair of members frictionally' engageable with the sides 'and bottom of the forepart of thegshoe on opposite sides of the shoe, a com'- mon support forsajid friction members, means for moving saidcommon support heelwardly'of the shoe to cause the friction members to urgethe shoe further on the last, and two'pivotalconnections between the common support and the operating` means, one of saidpivotal connections serving to enable the'common support to swing in response to the frictionaldrag ofthe friction members and 'the other serving to enable the common support to tilt in response tothe pressures exerted by the friction members against vthe'shoe bottom.

3. 'In a force lasting machine, a support for a collapsed last on which a shoe: is loosely mounted, a pair of members frictionally engageable with the sides and bottom of the forepart of the' shoe on opposite sides of the shoe, means formoving said members lengthwise of the shoe to urgegth'el shoe frthero'n the'lastand for then thrusting said members against'the 'bottom' of the forepart of the shoe to straightenlthe last.

4. In a force lastingmachine, a support for a collapsed last on which' al shoe isloosely mounted, shoe engaging means adapted to act fr icrtionally upon the shoe and also to press 'againstvthe shoebottom, acarrier'arrn upon which the vshoe engaging means is` carried, a'fulcrum upon which the carrier arm is pivotally'mounted, a supporting arm upon whichk said fulcrumfis supported, a fulcrurn upon whih the supporting arm is mounted for swinging movement, and operating mechanism constructed and arranged rst to swing both'arins als, a unit about the.. fulcrum `of the supnertag arm. te Causethe. shseengaging ieas t0 urge the forepart of the shoe fricti'clanallyV further on the last. and than, t9. Swine. the @niet arm about the rStmentioned fulcrum to cause the shoe engaging means, to straighten, the last by nressureegaust the .shoe bpfor'n.

5. In a force lasting machine, a support foracollapsed lasten whicha shoes IQQsely mnunterlr a pallrf friction pads engageable with the sides of the shoe, piS'Sllg means engageablewith thel bottom of thel shoe, aearrier 'arm upon` which the frietion membersnd'. thapressing means are carried, afulcrum, upon `which theL earrier is ,pivotally..m011nted, a supporting garmupon.whiclr `said fulcrumis supported, a. fulcrum. upon which thesuppQrting arm 1s mounted .for swinging movement,V andoperating mechanism constructedand arranged rstto swing both armsas a nuit-.about the fulrumsof; the Support-ing arm to causeI the' friction members to urgetheforlt o f the shoef'further onthe last `and-thertftoswingthexlarrter arm about the rst mentioned fulcrumtocause the pressing. means, to straighten, .the`r last by.y pressure against the shoebottom. i

6. In a f orcelastingmachinea support; for a.C012lP,Sd last on, which ,ashoetis loosely mounted; a shoemengaging means adaptedgto.exertlfrictiorrand;alsoithrustng. Qrssure upon the shoe, a carrier arm upon which the shoe engaging means is carried, a fulcrum upon which the carrier arm is pvotally mounted, a supporting arm upon which said fulcrum is supported, a fulcrvm upon which the supporting arm is mounted for swinging movement, a bell crank pivotally mounted on the second-mentioned fulcrum, a rod pivotally connected at its ends to one arm of the bell crank and the carrier arm respectively, a releasable latch normally holding the other arm of the bell crank locked to the supporting arm and thereby insuring that the movement of both arms will normally be in unison about the second-mentioned fulcrum, operating means for swinging the bell crank about the second-mentioned fulcrum to cause the shoe engaging means to urge the 5 exert thrusting pressure against the bottom of the shoe.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l0 Number Name Date 383,266 Abbott May 22, 1888 899,232 Reed Sept. 22, 1908 

